tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-208880302018-03-06T11:15:04.630-05:00Youb USA BlogWhere I am, What I do, When I did, Who I talk to, Everything of my new life is here! Have fun!Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-5841517257591957462008-12-15T15:30:00.003-05:002008-12-15T16:26:47.826-05:00I should have stop these counters earlier...<div style="text-align: justify;">Dear all!! Here I am... dead? no! far... yes :(<br />I should have stop these counters up there much earlier. 140 days ago actually! I spent in the USA 925 days... and I have in my mind the same amount of memories. My friends, my work, my life, my trips... every day was a chance to live this stay at the fullest. Taking a step back on all this... I think I did it the way it should be!<br /><br />Back in 2006, I arrived, little French guy, welcome (one week late...) by Paola, Nicola and Santiago, in that nice apartment in Summit, where I could finally stay since we were not fighting for the bathroom! Nice memories with all my roommates! Diners at night watching Desperate Housewives (yeah, okok, I switched later to Family Guy... no comment!!), cooking parties with Italian meat style, french crepes or Argentinian oniopringlespringles-)<br /><br />It's only around April that I got my car... ha, my car, Chrysler Sebring Convertible Gold! A total of 3 speeding tickets... they are driving so slow over there! 1 parking ticket... they stick it on your shield as soon as you have your back turned... and one accident! A stupid bitch I bumped. She stopped her car on left lane of the higway... because of a cop car! and still... it was my fault!<br /><br />All along this time, I met some people, some friends and some very good friend, some friend I will never forget. Alenjandro and Carina (and Alan for few month!!), Diego, Mariano from Argentina, Alvaro, Pamina and Cristiano, Paola and Nicola (and Margherita for few weeks) from Italy Erjola and Donald and all his family from Albania, Ana from Brazil. To all of you, thank you, thanks you so much, it will be a pleasure to meet you again, wherever it is, as soon as we can. I have pictures of all of you in my book and I feel a little nostalgic wheAlenjandrot around and just when I watch it for myself.<br /><br />Oh, I was about to forget. PrincPamina. some people know what it means. I thMargheritans a lot! these American paErjolawhere the cops always got invited... these parties where I met people from all over the world! these parties where I could speak french a little bit (I kind of miss that you know!!)<br /><br />Thank you to all the people who came to the US to visit me! My dad... first place since he came a dozen of times! Was nice to feel a little piece of Family in that part of the world! My mum, some friends and extended family, thanks to all of you! I was glad to show you my life there, and to make you enjoy the cheap prices of the outlets and other huge stores!!!!!<br /><br />After a first prolongation of my J1 visa, a trial to get an H1 and a fail over solution to an H3 (I shouldn't say this here!!), it's 2 years and a half enjoying this life... two years I never thought I could stay that long, and 2 years I figured out it was getting harder and harder to leave. I ended up taking the decision I wanted to go back to France, that was around January 2008. We are now December 2008 and many things happened in the meantime. Before leaving, I did that trip, 10000 miles around the country, and my American life finished on a touch of love! This stay is a great story just ending, my Lily is a great story which is starting!<br /><br /></div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-11099385233524436682008-07-19T23:42:00.002-04:002008-07-19T23:49:02.607-04:00The end<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-family: courier new; font-weight: bold;">10078 Miles</span></span><br /><span style="font-family: courier new;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: courier new;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: courier new;">There you go, that's it ... 3 weeks are passed and the trip is over. Last step today was the check up the car, clean it up, have a lunch in Hoboken and drive Pifi and Matthieu to the airport for their flight at 9PM with Air India (hum .... :) )</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: courier new;">I really hope you enjoyed all these comments I put on my blog, and all the pictures and it made you live a little bit with us during these 21 days where we saw so many things and we met very nice people all over the country.</span><br /><span style="font-family: courier new;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: courier new;"><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">But, Wait !!!</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: courier new;">Do you think it's over?! no!, it's not, don't stop reading me, I am not done yet! You probably noticed, every night in my blog, I posted what we did and what we saw, but I never gave more details about it. In the next few weeks, I will go back in time, and step by step, I'll post some more information about the important things we did. Numbers, dates, history, events, why when where what ... You lived with us, now, I have to make you want to do the same in the USA or any other place in the world because they all have some to show, hidden somewhere!!</span><br /></div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-81900440682020053122008-07-19T00:26:00.002-04:002008-07-19T00:40:18.265-04:00Day 20, (Friday, July 18th)<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: courier new;font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span> Baltimore, MD<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span> Summit, NJ<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles:</span> 302 miles<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time in the car:</span> 6 hours<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Weather conditions:</span> Sunny<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Traffic conditions:</span> OK<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pictures: </span><br /><br /><center><table style="width: 194px;"><tbody><tr><td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day20"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SIFvhPA78RE/AAAAAAAALsE/RUv_HT8-8Sk/s160-c/Day20.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0pt 0pt 4px;" width="160" height="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day20" style="color: rgb(77, 77, 77); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Day20</a></td></tr></tbody></table></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Today’s road:</span><br /><br /><center><iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=8996315699956966619,39.957829,-75.161741%3B6244077098195647427,39.378810,-74.486310%3B7561748172926077586,40.285720,-74.727450&amp;saddr=edgewood,+MD&amp;daddr=39.716166,-75.576324+to:Vine+St+Expy+%4039.957829,+-75.161741+to:Atlantic+City+Expy+E+%4039.378810,+-74.486310+to:I-95+S+%4040.285720,+-74.727450+to:Summit,+NJ&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=11&amp;via=1,2,3,4&amp;sll=39.689752,-75.717087&amp;sspn=0.254151,0.63446&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJpScnzWviHR2BZrglcMnGnH3sSHrw&amp;ll=40.145289,-75.19043&amp;spn=5.038379,6.591797&amp;z=6&amp;output=embed" scrolling="no" width="300" frameborder="0" height="300"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=8996315699956966619,39.957829,-75.161741%3B6244077098195647427,39.378810,-74.486310%3B7561748172926077586,40.285720,-74.727450&amp;saddr=edgewood,+MD&amp;daddr=39.716166,-75.576324+to:Vine+St+Expy+%4039.957829,+-75.161741+to:Atlantic+City+Expy+E+%4039.378810,+-74.486310+to:I-95+S+%4040.285720,+-74.727450+to:Summit,+NJ&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=11&amp;via=1,2,3,4&amp;sll=39.689752,-75.717087&amp;sspn=0.254151,0.63446&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=40.145289,-75.19043&amp;spn=5.038379,6.591797&amp;z=6&amp;source=embed" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Events:</span> (Times given in EST)<br />10:00 AM, Leaving the hotel<br />11:00 AM, Crossing border to Delaware<br />12:00 PM, Crossing border to Pennsylvania<br />01:30 PM, Crossing border to New Jersey<br />11:30 PM, Arrived at home<br /><br />A special day since it’s the last one. And it was not the most resting one.<br /><br />First thing we did was to visit Philadelphia and see some building around. Especially the building where the Constitution and the Declaration of independence were written and signed.<br /><br />Next step was Atlantic City for a late lunch and a great walk along the beach, shoes off and feet in the water! Very nice.<br /><br />On the way back home, we called Major (a class mate living in Princeton) and we passed by his place to drink a beer together. It’s been a while I didn’t see him, and even more for Pifi &amp; Spi. And it’s will be probably a long time before I see him :S<br /><br /></div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-80604389247711726452008-07-18T01:46:00.003-04:002008-07-18T01:49:50.538-04:00Day 19, (Thursday, July 17th)<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: courier new;font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span> Washington, DC<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span> Baltimore, MD<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles:</span> 185<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time in the car:</span> 3 hours<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Weather conditions:</span> Sunny<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Traffic conditions:</span> OK<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pictures:</span><br /><br /><center><table style="width: 194px;"><tbody><tr><td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day19"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SIAsz_5j5VE/AAAAAAAALmQ/2GyhO6UosIo/s160-c/Day19.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0pt 0pt 4px;" width="160" height="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day19" style="color: rgb(77, 77, 77); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Day19</a></td></tr></tbody></table></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Today’s road:</span><br /><br /><center><iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=17311776296510705261,38.884230,-77.033320&amp;saddr=edgewood,+MD&amp;daddr=39.296048,-76.602173+to:Maine+Ave+SW+%4038.884230,+-77.033320+to:Salisbury,+MD&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=8&amp;via=1,2&amp;sll=39.023785,-75.900335&amp;sspn=2.052604,5.075684&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJpK2hbiy3z5rYsE4_QFo0-Os8gVXw&amp;ll=38.908133,-75.695801&amp;spn=5.128835,6.591797&amp;z=6&amp;output=embed" scrolling="no" width="300" frameborder="0" height="300"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=17311776296510705261,38.884230,-77.033320&amp;saddr=edgewood,+MD&amp;daddr=39.296048,-76.602173+to:Maine+Ave+SW+%4038.884230,+-77.033320+to:Salisbury,+MD&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=8&amp;via=1,2&amp;sll=39.023785,-75.900335&amp;sspn=2.052604,5.075684&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=38.908133,-75.695801&amp;spn=5.128835,6.591797&amp;z=6&amp;source=embed" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Events:</span> (Times given in EST)<br />11:40 AM, Leaving the hotel<br />01:45 PM, Crossing border to District of Columbia<br />09:00 PM, Back in Maryland<br />12:30 AM, Arrived at the hotel<br /><br />Except the event in the morning about the tires, I’ve the impression this day already happened to me before! Visit of Washington DC followed by a diner / beer in Baltimore ... and it happened few times already!!<br /><br />We parked the car in Washington, close to the mall, and after a quick lunch in the old post office, we saw the White House, Washington monument, Constitution monument, Lincoln memorial, Roosevelt memorial, Jefferson memorial and the capitol! All this walking under the rain / very humid &amp; hot air.<br /><br />After that, heading to Baltimore for a diner on the old port. We had sea food (mahi mahi for me, I didn’t know that before, I like it!). We went in the Power Plant, a street in Baltimore full of bars and clubs, we had a quick refreshing beer before leaving.<br /><br />And then, so happy, we arrived at the hotel for a good shower and rest our legs! Lot of walking today!!<br /><br /></div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-52600953509696779152008-07-17T10:19:00.003-04:002008-07-17T10:31:57.630-04:00WARNING - WARNING - WARNING<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: courier new;">Alright ... how to say it? I kind if knew it... It's been few days I am telling everybody there is something wrong with the back tires, recently it started to be a bit noisy but I was still the only one to hear and feel it!<br /><br />Yesterday, at the diner break, I noticed one back right tire was too smooth and the left one had some irregular areas... This morning, looking at it with some day light, We can see the structure of the tire... No choice, we probably could have finish the few miles with this but not without risk for sure... We don't want to crash the car few hours away from our goal!!<br /><br />After the breakfast, we drove the car with Pifi to a mechanic close by the hotel and they will change both tired within an hour and a half... it's 9:30, we should be gone by 11:15 am, time to get the car back to the hotel load it and go!<br /><br />So we have more than an hour to relax a little bit, some of us are watching TV, "geeking" on the laptop, sleeping, or, like me, enjoying the sun at the swimming pool of the hotel! (and giving new this bad but safe news).<br /><br />I'll post pics later of the tires. for now, i am going back to the pool!!!!<br /><br />Thanks a lot for all your comments and next RDV is tonight for the story of our visit in Washington and Baltimore.<br /><br />Bye bye<br /></div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-18113701390047026682008-07-17T02:22:00.001-04:002008-07-17T02:33:53.009-04:00Day 18, (Wednesday, July 16th)<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span> Charleston, SC<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span> Washington, DC<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles:</span> ~600 (The car is right next to the door, but too lazy to check the mileage)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time in the car:</span> 10 hours<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Weather conditions:</span> Sunny<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Traffic conditions:</span> OK<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pictures:</span><br /><br /><center><table style="width: 194px;"><tbody><tr><td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day18"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SH7nPmUplmE/AAAAAAAALMM/qRNrm4BSTIY/s160-c/Day18.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0pt 0pt 4px;" width="160" height="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day18" style="color: rgb(77, 77, 77); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Day18</a></td></tr></tbody></table></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Today’s road:</span><br /><br /><br /><center><iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=7325809814560323235,28.522100,-80.679188&amp;saddr=Charleston,+SC&amp;daddr=1735+N+Salisbury+Boulevard+US+Salisbury,+Maryland&amp;sll=33.4588,-78.6081&amp;sspn=17.589863,40.605469&amp;doflg=ptm&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJpk2UbCTYl2Uls4ao7jTCIgNEzmew&amp;ll=35.960223,-76.552734&amp;spn=21.282939,26.367188&amp;z=4&amp;output=embed" scrolling="no" width="300" frameborder="0" height="300"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=7325809814560323235,28.522100,-80.679188&amp;saddr=Charleston,+SC&amp;daddr=1735+N+Salisbury+Boulevard+US+Salisbury,+Maryland&amp;sll=33.4588,-78.6081&amp;sspn=17.589863,40.605469&amp;doflg=ptm&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=35.960223,-76.552734&amp;spn=21.282939,26.367188&amp;z=4&amp;source=embed" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br /><br />Events: (Times given in EST)<br />09:00 AM, Leaving the hotel<br />02:45 PM, Leaving Charleston, SC<br />05:00 PM, Crossing border to North Carolina<br />09:30 PM, Crossing border to Virginia<br />12:00 AM, Crossing border to Delaware<br />01:30 AM, Arrived at the hotel (Salisbury)<br /><br />Quick one today because we had a long way, and it’s late and I am tired!!<br /><br />In the morning, we visited Charleston, just walking around and seeing all these nice houses with the colonial style. In the bay, we saw some dolphins!! First time I see some completely wild!! Then, we visited a bit farer away from the city, the fort Moultry (which should remind something to my cousin &amp; his wife!!). Very interesting and nice souvenirs :P<br /><br />We left and drove all the way to Delaware, taking the Bridge / Tunnel to cross the bay! Kind of cool! :)<br /><br /><br /></div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-30348704907520090032008-07-16T00:21:00.001-04:002008-07-16T00:24:10.711-04:00Day 17, (Tuesday, July 15th)<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span> Orlando, FL</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span> Charleston, SC </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles:</span> 395</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time in the car:</span> 6 hours</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Weather conditions:</span> Mostly rainy</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Traffic conditions:</span> OK (Traffic in Jacksonville, FL)</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Pictures: </span><br /><br /><center><table style="width: 194px;"><tbody><tr><td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day17"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SH1yYV7x5zE/AAAAAAAALKs/E2n-uRn9eo8/s160-c/Day17.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0pt 0pt 4px;" width="160" height="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day17" style="color: rgb(77, 77, 77); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Day17</a></td></tr></tbody></table></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Today’s road:</span><br /><br /><center><iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;saddr=Titusville,+FL&amp;daddr=28.522098,-80.679131+to:Charleston,+SC&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=12&amp;via=1&amp;sll=28.556481,-80.728226&amp;sspn=0.145048,0.31723&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJohYbzdtWjSv8V-5FLqU07YySXj1Q&amp;ll=29.840644,-79.541016&amp;spn=22.769129,26.367188&amp;z=4&amp;output=embed" scrolling="no" width="300" frameborder="0" height="300"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;saddr=Titusville,+FL&amp;daddr=28.522098,-80.679131+to:Charleston,+SC&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=12&amp;via=1&amp;sll=28.556481,-80.728226&amp;sspn=0.145048,0.31723&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=29.840644,-79.541016&amp;spn=22.769129,26.367188&amp;z=4&amp;source=embed" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Events:</span> (Times given in EST)</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">09:00 AM, Leaving the hotel</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">04:00 PM, Leaving Kennedy Space Center</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">06:30 PM, Crossing border to Georgia</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">08:30 PM, Crossing border to South Carolina</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">11:00 PM, Arrived in Charleston, SC</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">During this trip, we saw a lot of nature, a lot of cities, and we didn’t visit places too much. Being in Orlando was the occasion to go to Cap Canaveral, to the Kennedy Space Center and visit the site where all the Apollo missions (and many other) took off. We visited the site, had a tour in the different places to see a lot of stuff, very interesting. Some attractions were very nice, other, very disappointing (the launch simulation doesn’t worth the one in EPCOT).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Back on the road after this cultural moment, we drove up to Charleston, a great city we will visit tomorrow! On the way, we had a lot of rain. Showers that don’t even wash up my car ... useless! lol</span><br /><br /></div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-76750247676347791152008-07-15T00:38:00.004-04:002008-07-15T08:21:25.674-04:00Day 16, (Monday, July 14th)<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span> Miami, FL </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span> Orlando, FL </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles:</span> 539</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time in the car:</span> 11 hours</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Weather conditions:</span> Rainy</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Traffic conditions:</span> OK</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pictures:</span> </span><br /><br /><center><table style="width: 194px;"><tbody><tr><td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day16"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SHwm3KlItjE/AAAAAAAAK-k/a-WLGfTI5E0/s160-c/Day16.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0pt 0pt 4px;" width="160" height="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day16" style="color: rgb(77, 77, 77); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Day16</a></td></tr></tbody></table></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Today’s road:</span><br /><br /><iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=1938027993315990604,24.547580,-81.798230&amp;saddr=1550+Collins+Ave,+Miami+Beach,+FL+33139&amp;daddr=24.546596,-81.797504+to:titusville&amp;mra=dme&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=16&amp;via=1&amp;sll=24.545132,-81.796367&amp;sspn=0.009388,0.019827&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJrMG44LzzrfmVasu0Kwn4hsZnie8g&amp;ll=26.74561,-80.332031&amp;spn=11.75768,13.183594&amp;z=5&amp;output=embed" scrolling="no" width="300" frameborder="0" height="300"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=1938027993315990604,24.547580,-81.798230&amp;saddr=1550+Collins+Ave,+Miami+Beach,+FL+33139&amp;daddr=24.546596,-81.797504+to:titusville&amp;mra=dme&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=16&amp;via=1&amp;sll=24.545132,-81.796367&amp;sspn=0.009388,0.019827&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=26.74561,-80.332031&amp;spn=11.75768,13.183594&amp;z=5&amp;source=embed" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Events: (Times given in EST)</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">08:00 AM, Leaving Miami Beach, FL</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">11:30 PM, Arrived in Titusville, FL</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Early departure for a big day I was waiting for a long time: Direction Key West, the southern point in Florida and in the USA!! I was told many times this place is absolutely fantastic to see and to visit.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">I started driving and thanks god the road to get there has some very nice landscapes around because it’s pretty slow to drive and there is no way to go over the limit, cops car are everywhere. It took us more than 2 hours to get to Key West taking the route 1 up to the end. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t with us, all the way there, it rained few drops of huge showers and the sun never showed up.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Arrived there, we parked the car to walk around and see what Key West looks like. We visited the house of the famous writer, Ernest Hemingway, kind of interesting :) Then we headed to the southern point of the USA for a picture close to that big thing, we were there!!! In the plans, we wanted to get a bath in the sea but before, a good lunch was required! We stayed in a “restaurant”, it was a “booee booee”, just a kitchen surrounded with many many things coming from all over: the piers, the road, pieces of wood, metal or plastic... And all these gave a real “charm” to the place. The food was pretty good. We enjoyed :) Once this done, we looked for a beach and get dressed for the bath! But no way to find a correct beach and the only public one we found had some signs all over to warn us about important bacteria activity ... we gave and get back on the road to drive up the Titusville. A place close to Cap Canaveral, place we will visit tomorrow!</span><br /><br /><br /></div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-91026424167000804592008-07-14T01:16:00.005-04:002008-07-15T08:23:26.564-04:00Day 15, (Sunday, July 13th)<span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span> New Orleans, LA</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span> Miami, FL</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles:</span> 656</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time in the car:</span> 11 hours</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Weather conditions:</span> Mostly cloudy / Rain</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Traffic conditions:</span> OK</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Pictures:</span><br /><br /><center><table style="width: 194px;"><tbody><tr><td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day15"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SHrivIU8KOE/AAAAAAAAKoQ/dReajAttjlE/s160-c/Day15.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0pt 0pt 4px;" width="160" height="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day15" style="color: rgb(77, 77, 77); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Day15</a></td></tr></tbody></table></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Today’s road:</span><br /><br /><center style="font-family: courier new;"><iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;saddr=de+funiak+springs&amp;daddr=26.115986,-81.760254+to:1550+collins+ave,+miami+beach&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=6&amp;via=1&amp;sll=28.267475,-83.125855&amp;sspn=9.300511,20.302734&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJrj63LTk2_WBstEzRPtINK6GN4wBQ&amp;ll=28.304381,-83.144531&amp;spn=11.593284,13.183594&amp;z=5&amp;output=embed" scrolling="no" width="300" frameborder="0" height="300"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;saddr=de+funiak+springs&amp;daddr=26.115986,-81.760254+to:1550+collins+ave,+miami+beach&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=6&amp;via=1&amp;sll=28.267475,-83.125855&amp;sspn=9.300511,20.302734&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=28.304381,-83.144531&amp;spn=11.593284,13.183594&amp;z=5&amp;source=embed" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Events: (Times given in EST)</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">10:00 AM, Leaving Herve’s place</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">08:30 PM, Arrived in Miami, FL</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Good we drove a bit yesterday night, that was a long run and we didn’t have to rush too much to arrive in Miami. The road didn’t have much interest today. Landscapes in Florida are a bit different with much more trees (Pines mostly) and swamps all over. We took a different road to cross the everglades instead of heading on a highway we will have to take tomorrow again.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">For lunch, we stopped in a great restaurant ... Hooters!! We had to try it after my experience for my birthday 2 years ago. I was at this time really disappointed... and now, the food is still not that good but the waitress were much better ;)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Arrived in Miami, at the hotel, we met Laetitia, a friend from France who will join us for the rest of the trip!! Welcome and enjoy these last steps with us!!</span>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-3986743789633155742008-07-13T02:55:00.002-04:002008-07-15T08:24:09.844-04:00Day 14, (Saturday, July 12th)<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: courier new;font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span> Houston, TX<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span> New Orleans, LA<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles:</span> 660<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time in the car:</span> 9 hours<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Weather conditions:</span> Sunny<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Traffic conditions:</span> OK with some road work<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pictures:</span><br /><br /><center><table style="width: 194px;"><tbody><tr><td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day14"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SHmlagHRhWE/AAAAAAAAKgc/CfN-Mw031MA/s160-c/Day14.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0pt 0pt 4px;" width="160" height="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day14" style="color: rgb(77, 77, 77); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Day14</a></td></tr></tbody></table></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Today’s road:</span><br /><br /><center><iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=5040233168514982392,29.948040,-90.091260%3B8818162495646167517,30.692680,-86.131160&amp;saddr=Houston,+TX&amp;daddr=30.420256,-91.131592+to:Martin+Luther+King+Jr+Blvd+%4029.948040,+-90.091260+to:I-10+E+%4030.692680,+-86.131160&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=7&amp;via=1,2&amp;sll=30.297018,-90.681152&amp;sspn=4.561672,10.151367&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJpFA9wIoLVjEAlB1RLHCDlp2hp2Yw&amp;ll=30.297018,-90.65918&amp;spn=11.370664,13.183594&amp;z=5&amp;output=embed" scrolling="no" width="300" frameborder="0" height="300"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=5040233168514982392,29.948040,-90.091260%3B8818162495646167517,30.692680,-86.131160&amp;saddr=Houston,+TX&amp;daddr=30.420256,-91.131592+to:Martin+Luther+King+Jr+Blvd+%4029.948040,+-90.091260+to:I-10+E+%4030.692680,+-86.131160&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=7&amp;via=1,2&amp;sll=30.297018,-90.681152&amp;sspn=4.561672,10.151367&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=30.297018,-90.65918&amp;spn=11.370664,13.183594&amp;z=5&amp;source=embed" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br /><br /><br />Events: (Times given in CST)<br />09:30 AM, Leaving Herve’s place<br />12:00 PM, Crossing border to Louisiana<br />05:15 PM, Arrived in New Orleans<br />10:00 PM, Crossing border to Alabama<br />11:15 PM, Crossing border to Florida<br />12:30 AM, Arrived at the hotel<br /><br /><br />After a great French breakfast with some croissant (BIG thank you again!!). We took the road to reach Baton Rouge which was the first stop we wanted to make in Louisiana. There is the city where the capitol state is and the Mississippi river pass by. With the hot hot weather there, we didn’t stay too long and went back on the road to go to New Orleans.<br /><br />Once arrived there, we parked the car close by the French quarters (also known as Vieux Carre). We walked around to see this specific style which actually comes from Spain and not France (see the pictures). We had diner in a nice place. I had some blue crab... the one who loose the shell. We walked around and especially in Bourbon street where we can see 2 things: Music (mostly jazz, but other kind of music are there) and sex business. I was a bit surprised to see this in there ... but what can I say!! The effects from Katrina are absolutely not present so we tried to go by car around and see. Since we didn’t know where to go, we couldn’t find the place to see, not a big deal. We stopped by the lake which was the cause of the damages (The lake Pontchartrain).<br /><br />With the road we had to do tomorrow, we decided to drive few more hours before finding a hotel. We went 4 hours farer than what we expected for that day, it will help us tomorrow before reaching Miami!!!!<br /><br /><br /></div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-66942534004582728362008-07-13T02:39:00.002-04:002008-07-15T00:51:27.866-04:00Day 13, (Friday, July 11th)<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span> San Antonio, TX<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span> Houston, TX<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles:</span> 392<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time in the car:</span> 8 hours<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Weather conditions:</span> Sunny<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Traffic conditions:</span> OK<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pictures:</span><br /><br /><center><table style="width:194px;"><tr><td align="center" style="height:194px;background:url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat left"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day13"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SHmiAyMsmFE/AAAAAAAAKO8/4-gNTtPm6ww/s160-c/Day13.jpg" width="160" height="160" style="margin:1px 0 0 4px;"></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day13" style="color:#4D4D4D;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;">Day13</a></td></tr></table></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Today’s road:</span><br /><br /><center><iframe width="300" height="300" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Sonora,+TX&amp;geocode=&amp;dirflg=&amp;daddr=Houston&amp;f=d&amp;sll=30.569208,-100.643864&amp;sspn=0.071093,0.158615&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJpZpcwpkDIiTvM7nGPaycDXPArpTg&amp;ll=30.012031,-97.998047&amp;spn=5.706398,6.591797&amp;z=6&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Sonora,+TX&amp;geocode=&amp;dirflg=&amp;daddr=Houston&amp;f=d&amp;sll=30.569208,-100.643864&amp;sspn=0.071093,0.158615&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=30.012031,-97.998047&amp;spn=5.706398,6.591797&amp;z=6&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br /><br /><br />Events: (Times given in CST)<br />09:30 AM, Leaving the Hotel<br />03:45 PM, Arrived in Houston, TX<br /><br /><br />Since we were late from the day before, we had to catch up the road we didn’t do the day before. This means we had to wake up earlier or arrive later in Houston. A mix of both solution came out and we spent only few hours in downtown Houston. Anyway, as you can see on the pictures, there is not much to see.<br /><br />After the visit, no hotel to find because we were very nicely welcomed by a friend of mine leaving in the city. We arrived there around 7pm and started with a little relax time in the pool. Weather is really hot in this area, and a bit humid. We prepared our room and had a great diner: some good meat cooked on the BBQ, my favorite :D We had time to play with the 2 kids there and tell the story of our trip. Which is not that short by the way!!!<br /><br />Early bed time, and we were happy of that! It’s been a while we are sleeping ok, but not catching up the time lost in vegas :S But, don’t worry, we are still driving safely and we change driver as often as needed to not play heroes behind the wheels.<br /><br />Herve and all your family, thank you very much for this night spent in your place, it was a pleasure to see you again!!<br /><br /></div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-58359783598936827242008-07-11T02:01:00.002-04:002008-07-15T00:51:27.866-04:00Day 12, (Thursday, July 10th)<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: courier new;font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span> Tucson, AZ<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span> San Antonio, TX<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles:</span> 692<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time in the car:</span> 10 hours<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Weather conditions:</span> Rainy / Mostly cloudy<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Traffic conditions:</span> Loaded in El Paso, TX<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pictures:</span><br /><br /><center><table style="width: 194px;"><tbody><tr><td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day12"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SHb5djQnq-E/AAAAAAAAKHI/GWTWLPkgihQ/s160-c/Day12.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0pt 0pt 4px;" width="160" height="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day12" style="color: rgb(77, 77, 77); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Day12</a></td></tr></tbody></table></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Today’s road:</span><br /><br /><br /><center><iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;saddr=Tucson,+AZ&amp;daddr=31.753751,-106.485758+to:Sonora,+TX&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=16&amp;via=1&amp;sll=31.757601,-106.486681&amp;sspn=0.008776,0.019827&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJqobkpXYZ2kJWsbBZk-Tmj-KzS7ew&amp;ll=31.728167,-105.644531&amp;spn=22.337794,26.367188&amp;z=4&amp;output=embed" scrolling="no" width="300" frameborder="0" height="300"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;saddr=Tucson,+AZ&amp;daddr=31.753751,-106.485758+to:Sonora,+TX&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=16&amp;via=1&amp;sll=31.757601,-106.486681&amp;sspn=0.008776,0.019827&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=31.728167,-105.644531&amp;spn=22.337794,26.367188&amp;z=4&amp;source=embed" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Events:</span> (Times given in MST)<br />09:30 AM, Leaving the Hotel<br />11:15 AM, Crossing border to New Mexico<br />02:00 PM, Crossing border to Texas<br />10:00 AM, Arrived in Sonora, TX<br /><br />Wake up, wake up, wake up!! They couldn’t wake me up this morning, even after Pifi jumped on my bed!! Lol. A good breakfast / coffee arranged the thing and we took the road to go to El Paso. I was driving first while the 2 others finished there night :)<br /><br />Weather is not too good, lots of showers and we had to stop the car few times because of one of the wipers which get a bit tired. Its sliding out of the rail, but I think I fixed it for good now. It will finish the trip like this and, hopefully, we won’t have more rain!<br /><br />Arrived in El Paso, we parked the car and walk around to figure out the Mexican ambiance. It’s kind of nice, Hispanic music in the street, a lot of stored selling... whatever: clothes (lots of), kitchen stuff, music, or other crappy things! We saw the border with Mexico: lot’s of queue coming from Mexico (we all know how the custom are in the USA ;) ) and pretty fast to go the other way. To make sure we don’t run into some troubles, we didn’t cross it. Looks easy to go but not to come back! Instead, we looked for a restaurant, a typical one with Mexican food (taking the risk to have to stop many times on the highway for bathroom!!). We couldn’t find something good enough, we just got something in a Chicken Church fastfood :)<br /><br />Back on the road, we decided to stop before reaching San Antonio. The thing is that now, we are crossing the country from West to East and instead of gaining hours with the different timezones, we are loosing hours! We passed 2 hours already today, so it’s 2 hours later, so we have to wake up 2 hours earlier ... following? Me, yes and it sucks!! Lol (Actually, to mess around a bit more with this, we didn’t crossed 2 timezones. The state of Arizona doesn’t apply summer time change. Still following?)</div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-48720833439502141032008-07-10T04:16:00.002-04:002008-07-15T00:51:27.866-04:00Day 11, (Wednesday, July 9th)<div style="text-align: justify; font-family: courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span> Las Vegas, NV<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span> Tucson, AZ<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles:</span> 630<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time in the car:</span> 10 hours<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Weather conditions:</span> Sunny<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pictures:</span><br /><br /><center><table style="width:194px;"><tr><td align="center" style="height:194px;background:url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat left"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day11"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SHXA6HLVhjE/AAAAAAAAKF4/eGnkoP6n54s/s160-c/Day11.jpg" width="160" height="160" style="margin:1px 0 0 4px;"></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day11" style="color:#4D4D4D;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;">Day11</a></td></tr></table></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Today’s road:</span><br /><br /><center><iframe width="300" height="300" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=12238344511641722538,35.961287,-112.131594%3B14093115910848714005,35.449651,-111.948636&amp;saddr=Las+Vegas,+NV&amp;daddr=US-180+%4035.961287,+-112.131594+to:35.494779,-111.814728+to:tucson&amp;mra=dme&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=2&amp;sz=11&amp;via=1,2&amp;sll=35.522726,-112.084579&amp;sspn=0.268806,0.63446&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJqYuZR_xc-Au07i2-v6PEE2LuNz9A&amp;ll=34.343436,-112.719727&amp;spn=10.876558,13.183594&amp;z=5&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=12238344511641722538,35.961287,-112.131594%3B14093115910848714005,35.449651,-111.948636&amp;saddr=Las+Vegas,+NV&amp;daddr=US-180+%4035.961287,+-112.131594+to:35.494779,-111.814728+to:tucson&amp;mra=dme&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=2&amp;sz=11&amp;via=1,2&amp;sll=35.522726,-112.084579&amp;sspn=0.268806,0.63446&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=34.343436,-112.719727&amp;spn=10.876558,13.183594&amp;z=5&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Events:</span><br />09:00 AM, Leaving the Hotel<br />10:30 PM, Crossing border to Arizona<br />05:00 PM, Taking off from Grand Canyon airport<br />12:00 AM, Arrived in Tucons, AZ<br /><br /><br />Waking up after a ling day driving is hard, but OK. Waking up after sleeping 2 hours is almost impossible! But we did it! We had to drive Nat to the airport. He is leaving us (going back to SF). We had a really good time with him, lot of fun too :P<br /><br />After a last ride on the strip, we left to cross the desert and go to Grand Canyon. Not too many problems with the heat but we fill outside is like in a oven! Around 4, pretty close from our goal, we stopped to eat in a diner with a great ambiance: the flinstone family!! Leaving it, I saw one of the brochure to fly over Grand Canyon and we decided to do so. I called the guys in the car to make sure it was still possible and reserve 3 seats! Arrived on site, the 3 seats we had the OK for, were taken... little but hungry, I argued with the guy and the finally found a solution: A small place, with only us inside, and the pilot!! We took off and had that fantastic flight over Grand Canyon. The views are wonderful, magic... It’s a bit like YellowStone... I am so impressed... Look at the number of pic and you will understand! We flew for 50 minutes with the pilot explaining some stuff about the all thing.<br /><br />Back on the ground, we headed to Phoenix and then Tucson, our goal of the day.We arrived late, really happy to be there after that great day!!<br /><br /></div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-1111936897733695252008-07-10T03:58:00.002-04:002008-07-15T00:51:27.867-04:00Day 10, (Tuesday, July 8th)<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span> Los Angeles, CA</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span> Las Vegas, NV </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles:</span> 602</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time in the car:</span> 10 hours</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Weather conditions:</span> Sunny</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pictures:</span> </span><br /><br /><center><table style="width: 194px;"><tbody><tr><td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day10"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SHW5Za-M7GE/AAAAAAAAJ64/1PFDQ2teUck/s160-c/Day10.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0pt 0pt 4px;" width="160" height="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day10" style="color: rgb(77, 77, 77); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Day10</a></td></tr></tbody></table></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Today’s road:</span><br /><br /><center><iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=11753691908776148715,36.847090,-120.771950%3B10313463233935166786,34.101550,-118.339920%3B11586815240032759281,36.158240,-115.160170&amp;saddr=I-5+S+%4036.847090,+-120.771950&amp;daddr=34.072,-118.402233+to:Hollywood+Blvd+%4034.101550,+-118.339920+to:I-15+N+%4036.158240,+-115.160170&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=13&amp;via=1,2&amp;sll=34.074701,-118.394165&amp;sspn=0.068393,0.158615&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJoNbdVKsOOVwjdT5f-z1NbJYiJyvw&amp;ll=35.88905,-118.256836&amp;spn=10.673342,13.183594&amp;z=5&amp;output=embed" scrolling="no" width="300" frameborder="0" height="300"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=11753691908776148715,36.847090,-120.771950%3B10313463233935166786,34.101550,-118.339920%3B11586815240032759281,36.158240,-115.160170&amp;saddr=I-5+S+%4036.847090,+-120.771950&amp;daddr=34.072,-118.402233+to:Hollywood+Blvd+%4034.101550,+-118.339920+to:I-15+N+%4036.158240,+-115.160170&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=13&amp;via=1,2&amp;sll=34.074701,-118.394165&amp;sspn=0.068393,0.158615&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=35.88905,-118.256836&amp;spn=10.673342,13.183594&amp;z=5&amp;source=embed" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Events:</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">08:05 AM, Leaving the Hotel</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">12:00 PM, Arrived in Hollywood, CA</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">07:45 AM, Crossing border to Nevada</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">08:30 PM, Arrived in Vegas</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">We started the day early to finish the road we couldn’t do the day before and reach LA as soon as possible. We decided to park the car in Hollywood and walk on Hollywood boulevard, pass by the Chinese theater, Kodak theater and view the things around (and have lunch :P). Before leaving to go to Vegas (couldn’t wait for that!!), we went in Beverly Hills by car to see what it was (it’s the same than in the movies :P)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">I took care of my ticket. To summarize, I have to pay a ticket in Basin, WY. I have a cashier check from the main bank of Hollywood. I will mail it in Vegas in a Best Western (hotel) envelop. The judge is going to hallucinate! Lol</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">On the way to Vegas, we had the first effect of the desert! We first stopped the AC after the engine temperature was too high. We then opened the window, put the heating and enjoy the heat... It finally went down a bit. Oooofffff :D That part was scaring me...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Arrived in Vegas, we parked the car, checked in the room in our hotel: The Bellagio, settle down in the room and had a huge buffet diner. I think I couldn’t make my plates with more various things, everything was really good. And then, starts the night in Vegas: playing machines and roulette. I didn’t invest much and I didn’t win anything ... I can just say I lost the all thing! The good point is that I didn’t sell my car!! The night went on, we moved around on the strip and other place. What I did? Hummm... what happen in Vegas .... ?</span><br /><br /></div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-80637631533326396772008-07-08T03:30:00.002-04:002008-07-15T00:51:27.867-04:00Day09 (Monday, July 7th)<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" ></span><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span> San Francisco, CA</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span> Los Angeles, CA</span><span style="display: block;" id="formatbar_Buttons"><span class="" style="display: block;" id="formatbar_JustifyFull" title="Justify Full" onmouseover="ButtonHoverOn(this);" onmouseout="ButtonHoverOff(this);" onmouseup="" onmousedown="CheckFormatting(event);FormatbarButton('richeditorframe', this, 13);ButtonMouseDown(this);"></span></span><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles:</span> 148</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time in the car:</span> 6 hours</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Weather conditions:</span> Mostly sunny</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pictures:</span> </span><br /><br /><center><table style="width: 194px;"><tbody><tr><td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day09"><img src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SHMXlKwDNVE/AAAAAAAAJVE/f6dzjHZbLx0/s160-c/Day09.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0pt 0pt 4px;" width="160" height="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day09" style="color: rgb(77, 77, 77); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Day09</a></td></tr></tbody></table></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Today’s road:</span><br /><br /><center><iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=10948388529988560063,36.859350,-120.780400&amp;saddr=San+Jose,+CA&amp;daddr=36.956476,-122.025146+to:I-5+S+%4036.859350,+-120.780400&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=9&amp;via=1&amp;sll=37.09996,-121.17001&amp;sspn=1.053685,2.537842&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJrfARPVoEVxH9m1PWr5L-z3qPIxtg&amp;ll=37.099003,-121.168213&amp;spn=2.628691,3.295898&amp;z=7&amp;output=embed" scrolling="no" width="300" frameborder="0" height="300"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=10948388529988560063,36.859350,-120.780400&amp;saddr=San+Jose,+CA&amp;daddr=36.956476,-122.025146+to:I-5+S+%4036.859350,+-120.780400&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=9&amp;via=1&amp;sll=37.09996,-121.17001&amp;sspn=1.053685,2.537842&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=37.099003,-121.168213&amp;spn=2.628691,3.295898&amp;z=7&amp;source=embed" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Events:</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">06:40 PM, Leaving San Jose, CA</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">10:30 PM, Stopped in a hotel</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">First time we have to wake up for an appointment!! We had to be in SF, Pier 33 at 9:30 AM for the visit of Angel island and Alcatraz. We took the boat to visit first Angel Island. Not much interest in there which was the one of the immigration: Elis Island of San Francisco. We had a tour in a small old trolley pretty crappy. Alcatraz then was much more interesting! We walked by ourself first and then had an audio tour included in our expensive tickets bought online 3 days before!!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">After the visit, back home in San Jose to get all our stuff, load the car. There, Delex (A good friend from school, “hello delex!!!”) passed by for a coffee before we took the road. We finally left San Jose to go to Santa Cruz and see the sunset (which was opposite to the beach...) but we had fun in a arcade room!! 4 little boys! Nat joined us until Vegas, we are now 4 in the car and could fit everything in the trunk (I was good in tetris :P)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Bad news, we didn’t reach LA at night. To not arrive a 4AM, we stopped 250 miles before and will wake up early!</span><br /></div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-39772669670090619702008-07-07T01:59:00.002-04:002008-07-15T00:51:27.867-04:00Day 08 (Sunday, July 6th)<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: courier new;">Staying in:</span><span style="font-family: courier new;"> San Francisco, CA</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: courier new;">Miles:</span><span style="font-family: courier new;"> 130</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: courier new;">Time in the car:</span><span style="font-family: courier new;"> 6 hours</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: courier new;">Weather conditions:</span><span style="font-family: courier new;"> Foggy / Sunny</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: courier new;">Pictures: </span><br /><br /><center><table style="width:194px;"><tr><td align="center" style="height:194px;background:url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat left"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day08"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SHG0ChfI4fE/AAAAAAAAJUo/NMAMukJculs/s160-c/Day08.jpg" width="160" height="160" style="margin:1px 0 0 4px;"></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:11px"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day08" style="color:#4D4D4D;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:none;">Day08</a></td></tr></table></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: courier new;">Today’s road:</span><br /><br /><center><iframe width="300" height="300" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=8791440400995503611,37.841885,-122.485592%3B4559061664240596128,37.802115,-122.418171%3B8685613900829683784,37.806220,-122.423810%3B6749089342048510351,37.777003,-122.512255%3B17972968955065706292,37.752790,-122.447750%3B7715150170335712052,37.788820,-122.404370%3B11916263115414250007,37.330890,-121.892440&amp;saddr=San+Jose,+CA&amp;daddr=37.467229,-122.150803+to:US-101+N+%4037.841885,+-122.485592+to:Lombard+St+%4037.802115,+-122.418171+to:Polk+St+%4037.806220,+-122.423810+to:Point+Lobos+Ave+%4037.777003,+-122.512255+to:Twin+Peaks+Blvd+%4037.752790,+-122.447750+to:Post+St+%4037.788820,+-122.404370+to:S+Almaden+Blvd+%4037.330890,+-121.892440&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=11&amp;via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7&amp;sll=37.437793,-122.159042&amp;sspn=0.262243,0.63446&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJohDnPIVqdJzI-mSZnPkqIOKaQjZA&amp;ll=37.437793,-122.159729&amp;spn=0.654246,0.823975&amp;z=9&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=8791440400995503611,37.841885,-122.485592%3B4559061664240596128,37.802115,-122.418171%3B8685613900829683784,37.806220,-122.423810%3B6749089342048510351,37.777003,-122.512255%3B17972968955065706292,37.752790,-122.447750%3B7715150170335712052,37.788820,-122.404370%3B11916263115414250007,37.330890,-121.892440&amp;saddr=San+Jose,+CA&amp;daddr=37.467229,-122.150803+to:US-101+N+%4037.841885,+-122.485592+to:Lombard+St+%4037.802115,+-122.418171+to:Polk+St+%4037.806220,+-122.423810+to:Point+Lobos+Ave+%4037.777003,+-122.512255+to:Twin+Peaks+Blvd+%4037.752790,+-122.447750+to:Post+St+%4037.788820,+-122.404370+to:S+Almaden+Blvd+%4037.330890,+-121.892440&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=11&amp;via=1,2,3,4,5,6,7&amp;sll=37.437793,-122.159042&amp;sspn=0.262243,0.63446&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=37.437793,-122.159729&amp;spn=0.654246,0.823975&amp;z=9&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: courier new;">Events:</span><br /><span style="font-family: courier new;">11:00 AM, Leaving San Jose, CA</span><br /><span style="font-family: courier new;">08:00 PM, Back in San Jose</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: courier new;">Breakfast at Nat’s home before going to San Francisco. 50 miles to get there from San Jose. So far, weather is pretty sunny but weather is well known in SF to get foggy pretty easily ...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: courier new;">We started with the Golden Gate Bridge. Crossed it by car both ways but no way to see the all thing at once. There was a lot of fog as you can see on the pictures. Maybe we will have more chance tomorrow while we visit Alcatraz and Angel Island. We continue by car going to Lombard street (that street with some many curve in one block: 9). We went then to the steepest street in SF. The car was going in there and I still could see the road!! Driving in SF is pretty nice, going up hill or down hill all the time at each block, kind of fun!! Then, we parked the car to walk in Pier 39 and see Alcatraz and the sea lions. A great area with a lot of people, animation, restaurants, ...</span> <span style="font-family: courier new;">We saw the cable cars but way too much line to get in there. We just saw the end where they rotate them manually!!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: courier new;">Next stop was to eat!! A restaurant on the ocean called Cliff House. We had some shrimp &amp; crab in a huge salad, good to eat :) we walked then on the beach and had a quick taste of the temperature of the water: COLD!!!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: courier new;">Back in the car, we went on top of the twin peaks to get a great view of the city and the bay. We went down then in the Ashbur / Haight to walk in there. Lots of hippies and lots of homeless people. Some stores selling clothes (cheap or super expensive), music, or other messy stuff!! Even if it was sunny, temperature was really cold. Ocean influence is really impressive. After a quick round by car in the downtown of the city, we came back in San Jose. I drove the all day in SF and it’s pretty nice :)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: courier new;">Back home, we ordered pizza, grabbed some beers and spent the evening in the Jacuzzi / Pool to relax!! </span><br /></div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-63264410062706405632008-07-06T05:21:00.004-04:002008-07-06T14:05:49.002-04:00Day 07 (Saturday, July 5th)<span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span> Philomath, OR</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span> San Jose, CA</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles:</span> 605</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time in the car:</span> 12 hours</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Weather conditions:</span> Mostly sunny</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Traffic conditions:</span> Good</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Break down:</span> 1</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number of stops:</span> 4</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: courier new;">Todays road:</span><br /><br /><center><iframe width="300" height="300" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;saddr=24243+Alsea+Hwy,+Philomath,+OR+97370&amp;daddr=mount+shasta,+CA+to:190+ryland+ave,+san+jose,+ca&amp;mra=pi&amp;mrcr=1&amp;sll=41.285804,-122.269764&amp;sspn=0.062045,0.158615&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=40.954035,-122.639905&amp;spn=7.22659,1.53937&amp;output=embed&amp;s=AARTsJqC_6Yv5a2sCzlCNnSaoCc_OGtoOw"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;saddr=24243+Alsea+Hwy,+Philomath,+OR+97370&amp;daddr=mount+shasta,+CA+to:190+ryland+ave,+san+jose,+ca&amp;mra=pi&amp;mrcr=1&amp;sll=41.285804,-122.269764&amp;sspn=0.062045,0.158615&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=40.954035,-122.639905&amp;spn=7.22659,1.53937&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Pictures:</span><br /><br /><br /><center><table style="width: 194px;"><tbody><tr><td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day07"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SHCKfm7WC8E/AAAAAAAAJHA/EUpIgZGrqGk/s160-c/Day07.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0pt 0pt 4px;" width="160" height="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day07" style="color: rgb(77, 77, 77); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Day07</a></td></tr></tbody></table></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Events:</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">09:00 AM, Leaving Philomath, OR</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">12:56 PM, Crossing border to California</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">05:40 PM, Car broke down</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">09:00 PM, Arrived in San Jose, CA</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Early wake up with the family to start with some coffee and a nice breakfast: for the occasion, Glenn cooked some small pieces of deer and elk, very tasty :) Galen left to go to work and we stayed there talking a little bit before starting to prepare the car for a big day on the road. With Glenn, we checked the car (oil, tire pressure...), everything ready, it was time to say goodbye. I have to say I was really sad with that little thing in the throat!! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Glenn, Deanna, Galen, THANK YOU so much for your hospitality, my friends and I had a really good time and I was really happy to see you again! I was looking forward for this step of our trip. Time went really fast for this moment with you, because it was a good one!! I am now looking forward to see you again! Already!!!! (PS, I left a little something for you in the house! Did you find out?)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">I started driving with a little tear in my eyes! Heading South. Matthieu took over after he finished his night in the car! We stopped for lunch in Mount Shasta, a mountain 14162 feet high). There was a street fair in the city, we walked around and saw some real hippies! Quick lunch and we got back on the road.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">While I was sleeping, Pifi woke me up a bit nervous asking why the car wasn’t responding to the gas pedal, why the oil light was on and why the brake pedal wasn’t doing anything ... So I asked him to move to the tight lane and pull over on the emergency lane. A quick check revealed that we were out of gas :( Pifi asked me before if we shouldn’t fill up as we were at a quarter of the tank. Looks like our gauge has a little problem because it should have last much longer! The engine just stopped while driving without giving us the gas warning light. We called AAA, ine the next 15 minutes, somebody was here to give us 3 gallons of gas and we went back on the road!! (and fill up the tank!). Nice story we needed to have for this trip! And it finished in a good way even if I got very scared and a bit pissed at that moment!!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">We arrived in San Jose at our friend’s place: Nat welcomed us with his wife. We had a Korean diner and we went then in a bar / club for a drink and see the night life in this city!! See the pics, we enjoyed it :D</span>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-45399763480690672632008-07-06T05:06:00.005-04:002008-07-06T23:41:19.586-04:00Day 06 (Friday, July 4th)<span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span> Seattle, WA </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span> Philomath, OR </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles:</span> 273 </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time in the car:</span> 6 hours</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Weather conditions:</span> Cloudy + few showers</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Traffic conditions:</span> Heavy traffic leaving Seattle area.</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number of stops:</span> 3<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Todays road:<br /><br/><br /><center><iframe width="300" height="300" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=1870719272118857112,47.619764,-122.346582&amp;saddr=200+Taylor+Ave+N,+Seattle,+WA+98109&amp;daddr=1+microsoft+way,+redmond+WA+to:24243+Alsea+Hwy+Philomath,+OR+97370+&amp;mra=pi&amp;mrcr=1&amp;sll=47.63289,-122.237325&amp;sspn=0.111283,0.31723&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJrfNAkbrXuSQkHN8Ub3Z93pQpgUnA&amp;ll=46.088472,-122.76123&amp;spn=4.571814,6.591797&amp;z=6&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=1870719272118857112,47.619764,-122.346582&amp;saddr=200+Taylor+Ave+N,+Seattle,+WA+98109&amp;daddr=1+microsoft+way,+redmond+WA+to:24243+Alsea+Hwy+Philomath,+OR+97370+&amp;mra=pi&amp;mrcr=1&amp;sll=47.63289,-122.237325&amp;sspn=0.111283,0.31723&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=46.088472,-122.76123&amp;spn=4.571814,6.591797&amp;z=6&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br/><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Pictures:</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br /><br /><center><table style="width: 194px;"><tbody><tr><td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day06"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SHCJQcjSx-E/AAAAAAAAJAA/rpfEwHjEfPk/s160-c/Day06.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0pt 0pt 4px;" width="160" height="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day06" style="color: rgb(77, 77, 77); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Day06</a></td></tr></tbody></table></center><br /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Events:</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">12:00 PM, Leaving the hotel by car</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">02:22 PM, Leaving Seattle area</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">05:07 PM, Crossing border to Oregon</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">07:08 PM, Arrived in Philomath, OR</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">After a great &amp; heavy breakfast in the hotel, we left the car in it to go on top of the space niddle. Our thing to visit a city is to have a view from the top!! Time is a bit short, we chosen to take the car, top down and run a bit in downtown before heading the Redmond, to see the Microsoft buildings. July 4th, of course, everything was opened except these guys, so just left to drive south. Traffic to exit the Seattle area was pretty heavy, people are driving pretty slow on all lanes. Showers doesn’t help to move the traffic. I finally passed the wheel to Matthieu, I was feeling a bit tired.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Arrived close to Philomath, we just filled up the tank and arrived at the house of the Wilson’s family. I was so happy to see them again after 8 years!! Deanna, Glenn and Galen were here, waiting for us. Presentations done, we started pretty fast with diner which was really good :D. Real american BBQ, home made tarts (blue berries &amp; cherries, absolutely delicious, thank you Deanna) and home made ice cream (thank you Glenn!!). Then, I showed some pictures from YellowStone. I am still amazed by what we saw there!! And to finish the evening, before going to bed, it was 4th of july here, Galen had prepared some stuff so we had our fireworks (and dynamite actually :D, Thank you Galen!!)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Little contest: On the next pictures, what is this thing used for?</span><br /><br /><center><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day06/photo#5219823105996700962"><img src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SHCJdYdPPSI/AAAAAAAAI-g/AXgpFv3wPvA/s144/DSC02352.JPG" /></a></center>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-31747952361221230952008-07-04T04:16:00.004-04:002008-07-06T14:05:49.003-04:00Day 05 (Thursday, July 3rd)<div style="text-align: justify;font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-family:courier new;">Day 05, (Thursday, July 3rd)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >From:</span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> West YellowStone, MT</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >To:</span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> Seattle, WA</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Miles:</span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> 879</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Time in the car:</span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> 16h00</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Weather conditions:</span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> Mostly Sunny</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Traffic conditions:</span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> Good</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Number of stops:</span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> 5 + the ones in the park</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Todays road:<br /><br /><center><iframe width="300" height="300" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=4039092904159202645,44.642560,-110.874180%3B5839802469234129009,44.418030,-110.599450&amp;saddr=West+Yellowstone,+MT&amp;daddr=US-191%2FUS-287+%4044.642560,+-110.874180+to:Grand+Loop+Rd%2FUS-191%2FUS-287+%4044.418030,+-110.599450+to:44.654978,-110.467529+to:seattle&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=3&amp;sz=9&amp;via=1,2,3&amp;sll=44.574817,-110.635071&amp;sspn=0.941053,2.537842&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJpIcaiFSFqCV-he4GNpdwhf_ILaTg&amp;ll=45.95115,-116.630859&amp;spn=18.336427,26.367188&amp;z=4&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=4039092904159202645,44.642560,-110.874180%3B5839802469234129009,44.418030,-110.599450&amp;saddr=West+Yellowstone,+MT&amp;daddr=US-191%2FUS-287+%4044.642560,+-110.874180+to:Grand+Loop+Rd%2FUS-191%2FUS-287+%4044.418030,+-110.599450+to:44.654978,-110.467529+to:seattle&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=3&amp;sz=9&amp;via=1,2,3&amp;sll=44.574817,-110.635071&amp;sspn=0.941053,2.537842&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=45.95115,-116.630859&amp;spn=18.336427,26.367188&amp;z=4&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Pictures:</span><br /><br /><center><table style="width: 194px;"><tbody><tr><td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day05"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SG3bQG9z2pE/AAAAAAAAI5Y/GGbTVR1SxS0/s160-c/Day05.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0pt 0pt 4px;" width="160" height="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day05" style="color: rgb(77, 77, 77); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Day05</a></td></tr></tbody></table></center><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Events:</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">06:25 AM, Leaving West YellowStone, MT</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">06:26 AM, Crossing border to Wyoming</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">12:52 PM, Leaving YellowStone national park</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">12:53 PM, Crossing border to Montana</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">07:34 PM, Crossing border to Idaho</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">08:37 PM, Crossing border to Washington</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">12:30 AM, Arrived in Seattle, WA</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Another early wake up!! This one was decided to spend more time in the park. The time we spent the day before just convinced us to put the clock at 5 and leave at 6 AM.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Before entering the park, we filled up the tank of the car and headed up to the park which is approx 22 seconds far from the hotel we were. Nice hotel by the way. See the pics, all made of wood, very “rustic”.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">We entered the park to go south on the main loop. We stopped in many places. So many things to see (see the number of pics!!). We put the top down of the car pretty quickly to enjoy the view!! But the most amazing one was the old faitfull geyser. We can say we are kind of lucky. The geyser is supposed to erupt every 50 to 120 mins. We just seated there and 10 mins after, the show! Great :) but wait! It’s not it!! We decided to keep walking a bit to see other things around: including another geyser supposed to erupt every 10 hours to 5 days! And there you go, the eruption right for us!! Amazing. Simply amazing! We were really close, and it last for few minutes so I had time to shoot many pics, and even a video!! We exited the park going north to get back on the way which is taking us to Seattle: 1125 km to go!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">The way to Seattle is really long. While I was sleeping, Pifi saw one of these boxes to put the cat inside, on the middle lane of the highway. I really hope it was empty!! Lol. I also called the family I met in Oregon to let them know we were on time!! They are expecting us tomorrow for diner on 4th of July! I am really looking forward to see them again after almost 10 years. Pifi drives, Matthieu drives and I finish up the thing by night to arrive at 12:30 AM at the hotel, happy to be there. The landscape was really beautiful all the way, we crossed the rocky mountains, and every day I am filling up my brain with all these pictures. We also stopped (and go) in a really really weird local gas station with only one pump and no price displayed. We left pretty quickly, but after taking (and laughing about) a great pictures: A display for <a href="http://www.testyfesty.com/">the testicle festival</a>!!!</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Right now, I am kind of tired! I am writing this post from the hotel, seating by the window, looking at the space needle. A little jacuzzi time before going to sleep :)</span><br /></div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-40869503140318878862008-07-03T07:26:00.005-04:002008-07-06T14:05:49.003-04:00Day 04, (Wednesday, July 2nd)<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:courier new;"></span><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span> Rapid City, SD</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span> West Yellow Stone, MT</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles:</span> 537</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time in the car:</span> 12 hours</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Weather conditions:</span> Mostly Cloudy then Sunny</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Traffic conditions:</span> Good all the way to the national park where we had to slow down</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number of stops:</span> 4,5</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number of tickets:</span> 1</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: courier new;">Today's road:</span><br /><br /><center><iframe width="300" height="300" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;saddr=Rapid+City,+SD&amp;daddr=44.032321,-107.907715+to:West+Yellowstone,+MT&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=7&amp;via=1&amp;sll=44.957055,-107.251565&amp;sspn=3.739198,10.151367&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJpnuEN-kxsvjqhyN91f6cV8gXH3ZA&amp;ll=44.964798,-107.270508&amp;spn=9.327868,13.183594&amp;z=5&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;saddr=Rapid+City,+SD&amp;daddr=44.032321,-107.907715+to:West+Yellowstone,+MT&amp;mra=dpe&amp;mrcr=0&amp;mrsp=1&amp;sz=7&amp;via=1&amp;sll=44.957055,-107.251565&amp;sspn=3.739198,10.151367&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=44.964798,-107.270508&amp;spn=9.327868,13.183594&amp;z=5&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pictures:<br /><br /><center><br /><table style="width: 194px;"><tbody><tr><td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day04"><img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SGy4j5JcR7E/AAAAAAAAIKE/yT47qNii96g/s160-c/Day4.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0pt 0pt 4px;" width="160" height="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day4" style="color: rgb(77, 77, 77); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Day4</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Events: </span><span style="font-family:courier new;">(Times given in MST)</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">10:00 AM, Leaving Rapid City, SD</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">10:47 AM, Crossing border to Wyoming</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">04:00 PM, Pulled over for speeding in a 30 mph area </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">07:10 PM, Entering Yellow Stone National Park</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">09:59 PM, Crossing border to Montana</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">10:01 PM, Arrived in West Yellow Stone</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Early wake up again, but not really wanted this time. We spent this time doing some reservation for our hotel in Seattle, check some dates / ticket to visit Alcatraz in SF and send you all these posts and pictures!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">I started driving. I was really amazed of the exits on the highway: A little path made of dust!! Then I convinced Matthieu and Pifi to take a smaller road instead of a highway (Already got bored of them!!) and we started to see some really nice landscapes around. I took over the wheel because I wanted to drive my “titine” in the mountains... Few minutes after we left the scenic view area, Matthieu figured out he cannot find his camera. We looked everywhere in the car, not there. We finally came back to the place we were and it was waiting there, right next where we park! It must have fallen from his pocket. So, I drive again, what an idea I got there... In a small city of 10 people, called Basin, I got pulled over by a cop who had finished his coffee probably. I was going 41 mph in a 30 mph area... No comment, I am pissed, first ticket of the trip and probably last one (anyone wanna bet?!)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Then things started to get interested. Pifi took back the wheel and we entered the YellowStone National Park … and what a … let me find the word : spectacular? Fantastic? Wonderful? Magic? Natural? Crazy? Unbelievable? No, no words to say, but you got it, it’s some amazing. See the pics I put, I would love you to feel the same thing I feel looking around and seeing these bears, bison, pelican or just trees and rivers going around and making this place unique. To give you an idea, if you know that comic “petit pied”, it’s the same thing when they discover the big land. Or try to feel like these people in Jurassic Park, same way, discovery of something magic &amp; amazing.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">It took us 4 hours to cross the park, stopping in a lot of places to see the wild animals, or the seismic activity. Very quickly, we put the top down of the car, even if the temperature is pretty cold. It worth it!!! We are at 2700 meters if altitude. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Great great day today, tomorrow, we will spend few more hours early in the morning to see more of the park and then head to Seattle.</span><br /><br /></span></span></div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-86365062545324712502008-07-02T08:29:00.003-04:002008-07-06T14:05:49.003-04:00Day 03, (Tuesday, July 1st)<span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span> Chicago, IL</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span> Rapid City, SD</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles:</span> 896 </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time in the car:</span> 12:30 hours</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Weather conditions:</span> Mostly sunny</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Traffic conditions:</span> Heavy traffic to exit Chicago area (Road work), Good after that</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number of stops:</span> 4</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Today's road:<br /><br /><center><iframe marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;saddr=5550+north+river+road,+rosemont,+IL&amp;daddr=Rapid+City,+SD&amp;sll=41.349805,-81.10852&amp;sspn=7.932212,20.302734&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJo0vcB69CmV2hXc3wCBB5L5ZvJ_gA&amp;ll=43.068888,-95.537109&amp;spn=19.249399,26.367188&amp;z=4&amp;output=embed" scrolling="no" width="300" frameborder="0" height="300"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;saddr=5550+north+river+road,+rosemont,+IL&amp;daddr=Rapid+City,+SD&amp;sll=41.349805,-81.10852&amp;sspn=7.932212,20.302734&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=43.068888,-95.537109&amp;spn=19.249399,26.367188&amp;z=4&amp;source=embed" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); text-align: left;">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pictures:</span> <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day03">HERE</a></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Events:</span> (Times given in CST)</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">06:47 AM, Leaving Chicago, IL</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">07:30 AM, Crossing border to Wisconsin</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">11:57 AM, Crossing border to Minnesota (Mississippi river) </span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">02:30 PM, Crossing border to South Dakota</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">07:00 PM, Arriving to Rapid City, SD</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:courier new;">Early departure from the Sofitel to try to avoid traffic from the city and not arrive too late in Rapid City (there is a pool there :)). I start driving while Pifi and Matthieu keep on sleeping to finish the night! Some heavy traffic due to road work at the exit of Chicago area but things get really good after that. Pifi took the wheel and Matthieu do so couple of hours after. It was pretty hot out there, but probably nothing compared to what we will have in Arizona!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">We were supposed to arrive around 7:30 PM in Rapid City and we made it at 7, including all the breaks we took. Speed limit is a bit higher in the states we crossed and we usually add another 5 / 10 miles over it ;)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Arrived at the hotel, good surprise when we saw the room according the price we paid! With the early time, we decided to go and visit Mont Rushmore at night to save time in the morning. We took the car again and had to ride another 30 miles. We passed by some villages with this old tourist style, kind of cute!! And we saw, finally, the 4 presidents in the rock :D : Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. See all the pictures we took, it’s kind of impressive, nice to contemplate. To finish this work, they removed 45 000 tons of stone, 90% with dynamite.</span><br /><br /></div></span></span>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-63082398213182918262008-07-01T22:21:00.005-04:002008-07-06T14:05:49.004-04:00Day 02, (Monday, June 30)<span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-family:courier new;"></span></span><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Staying in:</span> Chicago, IL</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Miles:</span> 0</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Time in the car:</span> 0 hours</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Weather conditions:</span> Sunny</span><br /><span style="font-family: courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pictures:</span> </span><a style="font-family: courier new;" href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day02">HERE</a><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Events:</span> (Time is giving in CST)</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">08:30 AM, Wake uuuuppp!</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">10:30 AM, Leaving the hotel</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">11:30 AM, Arrived in Chicago Downtown</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">10:00 PM, Back to the hotel</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">No so early wake up today to try to compensate previous ones! After showers and refill of the cooler with ice, we are heading to Chicago for our first tourist day. The bus is taking us from the Sofitel up to the train station in Rosemont. A direct train takes us to the loop, the heart of Chicago.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">To have an overview of the city, we first climb at the top of the Sears tower (a 110 stories building). Few fact about it, it’s the tallest building in the USA, its base is made of 9 tubes and they stop at different levels, which gives him a nice and original architecture. It was for a while the tallest building in the world. Built in 1973, the Sears company decided to group all resources in a single building. It is now for sale, if anybody has a billion dollars, it’s yours.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">After a lunch in an old fashion bar / restaurant, we walk and take the subway to go up town, to the History museum where couple of “bricoles” are shown there. Thanks god it was free, some nice things displayed, but not WONDERFUL!!!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">We spent then the afternoon walking, from Lincoln Park, Chicago beach, Nay pier and inside the Loop. See the pictures … </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">General impression about this city, I really like the architecture, buildings are original and nice to contemplate (most of them :P), people are nice too, ambiance is much more quiet than NY where everything runs too fast… </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Diner in a fashion Italian restaurant. Nice food but the greatest moment was the bathroom!! Yes!! Like in Del Friscos (for the ones who knows), there is a gentleman giving you towels, holding the door, … this one was doing all this, but also some “claquette” while I was doing my little affair :D Pifi and Matthieu still don’t believe me, but, whatever, I had my show!!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Back to hotel with the same train, we fall asleep pretty fast after that long walking tourist day!</span>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-73527226408686480482008-07-01T00:34:00.006-04:002008-07-06T14:05:49.004-04:00Day 01, (Sunday, June 29)<span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >From: </span><span style="font-family:courier new;">Summit, NJ</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >To:</span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> Chicago, IL</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Miles:</span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> 798</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Time in the car:</span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> 13 hours</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Weather conditions:</span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> Mostly Cloudy / Showers</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Traffic conditions:</span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> Good until Chicago area, the messy</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Number of stops:</span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> 4</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: courier new;">Today's road: </span><br /><br /><center><iframe width="300" height="300" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;saddr=18+Summit+Ave,+Summit,+NJ+07901+(home)&amp;daddr=5550+north+river+road,+rosemont,+IL&amp;sll=41.349805,-81.10852&amp;sspn=7.932212,20.302734&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;s=AARTsJqMu3dId_jQEsGXtDqGh8oPbvpdbQ&amp;ll=41.343825,-81.123047&amp;spn=9.894886,13.183594&amp;z=5&amp;output=embed"></iframe><br /><small><a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&amp;hl=en&amp;geocode=&amp;saddr=18+Summit+Ave,+Summit,+NJ+07901+(home)&amp;daddr=5550+north+river+road,+rosemont,+IL&amp;sll=41.349805,-81.10852&amp;sspn=7.932212,20.302734&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;ll=41.343825,-81.123047&amp;spn=9.894886,13.183594&amp;z=5&amp;source=embed" style="color:#0000FF;text-align:left">View Larger Map</a></small></center><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Pictures:</span><span style="font-family:courier new;"> </span><a style="font-family: courier new;" href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/Day01">HERE</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:courier new;" >Events:</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">06:30 AM, Leaving Summit, NJ</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">07:19 AM, Crossing border to Pennsylvania</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">11:57 AM, Crossing border to Ohio</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">03:47 PM, Crossing border to Indianna</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">06:35 PM, Crossing border to Illinois</span><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">07:33 AM, Arriving to Chicago</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">After an early wake up (Pifi and Spi used to the French time...), loading the car with all our stuff (luggage, food &amp; other useless things!!), we finally took the road at 6:30, direction to Chicago! First step of our great trip, but not the smallest one since Google &amp; TomTom indicates a big good 13 Hours driving without counting the stops!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">I first drive to get out of Summit and get on the US80 and then Pifi take the wheel for the first time (Kind of scary .... hum), and then Spi took over. Driving in the US is not that bad ... it's the others not very easy to drive with!! hahaha</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Conditions were OK, we had couple of heavy showers but most of the time, cloudy. So not too bad at all to drive. We stopped few times for gas &amp; stretch legs. The car is pretty comfortable to be 3 inside. 2 in front and 1 in the back with the cooler!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:courier new;">Arrived to the hotel, Sofitel of O'Hare Airport in Chicago, we got all our stuff in the room, and we enjoyed the pool / sauna &amp; gym room to relax after that first long day. We had a nice diner with a weird pizza (famous in Chicago, deep dish), and a great night.</span></div>Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-61554007959164586912008-06-08T22:19:00.002-04:002008-06-08T22:33:25.929-04:00Red Bull Air RaceHello everyone!<br /><br />Back on my blog and still alive!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">A lot of thing happened since my last post. Like for example these little bird and his eggs ... they all disappeared :S too sad to be true, right?<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Also, last week end, we went all the way to Detroit (9 hours from new jersey!) with Santiago, Nicola and Donald to see the Red Bull Air race. A very nice show, in the air, where pilots competes on a short but intense circuit. During the run, pilots get up to 10G (while an army jet goes up to 5G or a roller coaster stands at 3G maximum).<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Saturday was supposed to be the qualification day but was finally canceled at the last moment because of the wind. we still had some demo, but not the real thing!! We also had the chance in the morning, to meet to pilots (and the rebull hostesses !!). It's there I figured out one of the pilot was French: Nicola Ivanoff (ok, ..., doesn't sounds too frenchy, but he runs for France, speak french and has a very nice english accent!!!!!!!)<br /></div><br />Sunday, pretty scared of hearing the same bad news, we went in the area pretty early to be close from the action! The demos we had were pretty impressive like a army jet passing full speed, or stalling, few meters away from us. And also the redbull helicopter which flies up side down!! The race finally started, our french pilot started opened the track and kept the first position until the 6th one to run. In the end, he finished 6th out of 12, not too bad. but, could be better!!<br /><br />You can see a lot of pics of the show here:<br /><br /><center><table style="width: 194px;"><tbody><tr><td style="background: transparent url(http://picasaweb.google.com/f/img/transparent_album_background.gif) no-repeat scroll left center; height: 194px; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" align="center"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/RedBullAirRace"><img src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/hubchatillon/SESQwPsEr6E/AAAAAAAAGwk/U8KBMNcBwBM/s160-c/RedBullAirRace.jpg" style="margin: 1px 0pt 0pt 4px;" height="160" width="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/hubchatillon/RedBullAirRace" style="color: rgb(77, 77, 77); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Red Bull Air Race</a></td></tr></tbody></table></center><br /><br /><br />So now, on the things going on around, I started to think about my return to France and I am also waiting for that date ... 3 weeks from now, to leave for the trip!!Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20888030.post-72802265893213664222008-05-03T09:36:00.002-04:002008-05-03T09:40:41.216-04:00Extra roomates ... again!our little friend is willing to expand his family not to one little baby bird but to 3 of them!!<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_7c6HYoDIyXc/SBxrJKp4_-I/AAAAAAAAGT0/ex_wB-P5QP4/s1600-h/PICT8826.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_7c6HYoDIyXc/SBxrJKp4_-I/AAAAAAAAGT0/ex_wB-P5QP4/s320/PICT8826.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5196145875301760994" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Let's celebrate!! ;)Youbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06306448766081393609noreply@blogger.com3